small business

#1 Method to Work On Your Business

February 23, 2019 By Marylee 2 Comments

Do you struggle with making time to work ON your business? As entrepreneurs, we wear so many hats; there are always too many tasks required of us to keep the business afloat.

In my first years as a solopreneur, I did everything. From sales to marketing to delivering my service, to admin and bookkeeping. Did I leave anything out? It’s a relentless job to keep balancing all the plates at once.

I love planning though. I constantly seek out time to work on my business, making new plans, how to grow, how to become more efficient, how to make more money. I sometimes will get extremely frustrated when I don’t feel I have time to work ON my business.

Sound familiar?

Before we go any further, let’s be sure we are on the same page concerning the difference between working IN your business and ON your business.

Working IN Your Business (WIB)

Working IN your business takes up most of the day both for you and if you have any, your employees. IN your business tasks are needed to keep the business moving forward, getting customers or clients, delivering your services or products, keeping clients satisfied, keeping track of the millions of details of running a business.

Examples of IN Your Business Tasks

Delivering your service or product
Creating the product
Answering questions
Paying bills
Sending invoices
Putting out fires

As a startup or solopreneur business owner, we do wear all the hats. If you are not able to outsource any of these regular tasks, time to work ON the business becomes more difficult – although not impossible.

The BIG Picture

Working ON Your Business (WOB)

WOB is the big picture stuff, the growth efforts, making significant changes to your business model and its growth. To me, working ON my business is the fun part. Yes, I love working with clients, but as I said before, I love to plan and see what happens when I implement my ideas.

Examples of Working ON your Business:

Setting goals
Creating systems and processes
Writing marketing content
Making sure things happen

Our businesses are not a J.O.B. They are part of us. Our dreams come true, our passion.

It is imperative to make the time to think and plan beyond this moment a priority. What part will the business play in your future? How will it help your dreams come true?

Create your WOB Time

We can’t wave a magic wand and make time for working ON your business appear. Even when we say, I will do this WOB task today; other tasks will intervene. The squeaky wheel, you know?

Schedule WOB Time on Your Calendar

The same way we commit to a client appointment, we must schedule time on our calendar and commit to it. I was working with one of my coaching groups recently, and we decided that the value of an hour for WOB is $500.

Would you throw away an opportunity to make $500? My clients wholeheartedly agreed assigning the value of $500 to each WOB hour would help them commit.

We also talked about large chunks of time versus short bites of 10-30 minutes. If we divide our tasks into small bites versus larger projects, each one will fit into an opening we schedule on the calendar.

If you commit to just one thing each day, the bites will get done, and the projects will become more manageable. By doing this, we develop a sustainable daily habit of working ON our business.

Making a Shift from WIB to WOB

Some of my clients find they need time to shift their mindset from their client sessions to a very tactical, strategic way of thinking. Therefore, they prefer to schedule longer WOB productivity sessions and book either a half or full day to work on their businesses.

As long as they schedule it.

Others are more successful in chunking down their tasks and fitting them in smaller blocks of time on their calendars. Many (with my urging) complete these projects at the beginning of the day. I have found if I don’t complete scheduled WOB work first thing in the morning, it usually is pushed aside.

The important thing is to plan the time for the $500 WOB task and put it on your calendar. Once you are in the groove, maintain your focus to complete the task started.

Make the Best Use of your WOB Time

Do you ever sit down to work on a project and find yourself wasting the first 30 minutes trying to figure out what you should be doing? Those hours add up.

Your first task each year, quarter or month is to plan your goals for the upcoming period. I advise people to create their Vision, 3 Year and Annual, Quarterly and Monthly goals. I know this seems like a lot of work, but it is worth it.

From these goals, you will quickly know what your next WOB priority is, and you will be able to begin as soon as you sit down.

A Shift in Lifestyle

Moving into a semiretired lifestyle, my love for planning has paid off.

If I hadn’t thought about the future of my first business (The Contained Gardener) early on, I would not have built this small company into a $1/2M company that became attractive to buyers. After 15 years, the company sold to another local business (for more of my story, visit my About Me page. Put aside some time though as it’s a long one!

Without that sale, I would still be working IN my business full time+ and probably not very happy with it. Living in the desert for 20 years had become wearing on me, especially with the possibility of a future home on Kauai dangling like a carrot in front of me.

Now my challenge is to maintain a plan that works with fewer hours a week, generates income and meets my professional goal;

To build and support a community of mature women professional service business owners who desire a semiretired lifestyle and are frustrated with being shy of reaching their financial goals.

Summary of Your WOB Action Steps

Make Sure You Commit to the Time

Use your annual plan as a guide to know what your next project is.
Schedule time on your calendar and commit to it the same way you commit to a client appointment.

It’s that important.

Options for Scheduling Your Time:

1. Use large chunks of time so you can shift your mindset to a very tactical, strategic way of thinking. Book a few hours each week to work on your business.

1. Chunk down your tasks and fit them in smaller blocks of time on your calendar every day. Complete each mini-project at the beginning of the day.

AND

1. Hold yourself accountable. Find a reward that works. Don’t have your second cup of coffee until you finish. Or put off a favorite activity until you complete your task at hand.

Working on your business should not be a chore. I look forward to my WOB time as it is a fun part of my day.

Don’t get lost in putting out fires 🔥.

Have fun doing the things that were part of the reason you started your own business.

Would your rather digest these tips in a minute?

Follow my Got a Minute Series on Medium.

I usually post a new tip each Monday.

It’s all about growing your business. From Start-ups to Semiretired – It works.

Be Attentive to Clients – and Grow Your Business

January 19, 2019 By Marylee Leave a Comment

Your current clients will respond well to the personal touches you give them. Do you have a system of how to reach out to them?

Business owners often spend a tremendous amount of time trying to bring in new clients that we forget about adding value or attention to our existing clients.

While I have utilized a touch system in my past business, an article I read recently got me thinking.

In ”How to Build an Audience of 1000 True Fans in a Noisy World” by Srinivas Rao, the author references Kelly Kevin’s work from a decade ago about 1000 raving fans and writes,

Reaching your first 1000 fans begins with shifting your mindset from “how can I reach more people” to “how can have a meaningful impact”? Instead of wondering how you get somebody’s attention, you focus on creating something worthy of their attention.

This mindset shift comes from establishing a business culture that pays attention to your existing clients beyond service delivery, as exemplary as it may be and beyond sending invoices and holiday cards.

Marylee's Patio for a Garden Tour — A Redesigned Patio by The Contained Gardener 2012

My first business was a service business, where we designed, installed and maintained container gardener to desert homeowners and businesses.

As a specialist in this service, we did not have a lot of competition, so it was easy to stand out from the crowd. The challenge was one of educating people about our service as they did not know someone specialized in container gardens.

I sold this business at the encouragement of my colleagues to become a business coach. While I feel there is a lot of room for all of us coaches in the world, the online market has gotten very noisy.

Wouldn’t it be easier to concentrate on our existing clients first while we work to attract new clients? We know the ROI of our time is better when we increase our current clients’ sales.

Grab my FREE Infographic and challenge yourself for your client follow-through. See if you can increase your sales by 10% in 10 minutes a day. Read more about Scale UP! to Niche Down.

Grow Existing Client Sales

There are several ways to grow your business’s average sale per client. These include:

Increase the average initial sale
Increase the number of times a year the client makes a purchase
Increase the total annual sales of each client – which will happen when you do either of the two items above, but it’s good to keep this figure in mind.

To do any of the above, you need to be the first person they think of when they need your service or anything close to it. A Keep in Touch system will help you accomplish that. Sometimes only doing your service is not quite enough.

You don’t want your clients to take you for granted, and you certainly don’t want your client to think you take their business for granted.

Keep in Touch System (KITS)

If you read my Got a Minute Series on Medium, Tip #3 – Keep In Touch gave you the following tip.

KITS #1

Call them. Your current clients that is.

Simple, easy. It’s the start of the new year, and you can call them to say Happy New Year. If you are reading this later in the year, wish them a good … whatever the upcoming event is — happy spring equinox, 4th of July, etc.

No sales, no gimmicks. Just say to them, “Hi! I am just calling to wish you a happy and healthy New Year. Did you have a good holiday?”

If you haven’t done this before, they may be listening for the real reason for your call. But that’s it!

Depending on how well you know them, you can add some personalized comments.

Divide your client list by 10 and do that many calls a day over the next ten days. If you have way too many clients, call the top 100.

Trust me; it will make a difference.

KITS #2

Develop and follow a touch system so that you are communicating with your clients consistently. Consistency is important. I know how it is. We get on a roll and have a great start. The first three months go very well.

Then something gets in the way, and your system slips. One month goes by, then two and then, maybe you’re embarrassed that you have not contacted your clients, so you don’t restart.

Some clients may not miss the touches but others will. The problem comes when they don’t think of your company when they need something.

Therefore consistency matters.

A touch system includes how you reach out to your clients each month and year. There should be at least three touches a month plus you can have some quarterly, semi-annual or annual touches.

One key method is through an email newsletter. However, if you do this, you want to send at least once a month.
Depending on the type of service you provide, you can also include 1:1 visits, phone calls, birthday and holiday cards, social event invitations, or a personal email about a particular interest of the client.

I used to include my invoices in my touch system for my A and B clients because I often added a gift card in with the invoice. Many of my clients were restaurants, and they would give me gift cards to pass on. My clients loved it, and it put more butts in the restaurants’ seats.

Use your imagination to come up with ways to reach out to clients that work for both of you. What would they appreciate and be remarkable? In this digital age, these personal touches will go far.

Another touch I created was a unique card representing the anniversary of the date they started working with me. Everyone else sends Thanksgiving or Holiday cards. Each year I designed a single unique card, ordered enough for my entire client list, and sent them out monthly.

By ordering one greeting card for the year, I did not have to record which card they received. I also tracked how many years they had been with me and made sure I mentioned that in their personalized notes.

I’m just going to say here that when I sold my company, about 70% of my clients hired the new company and a majority remain with them today, six years later. I could say a lot about why this is the case, but I believe these touches certainly helped.

Your To Do List from this post

Stop right now and call your clients as above and wish them Happy Something! Do it – GO!
Review or begin a touch system. Set an hour aside to brainstorm what you might include in yours. Talk to your staff, your friends, even your top three clients and ask them for ideas.
Choose at least three touches to implement in the next month. Systematized notes, so it happens as fluidly as possible.
If you do not have a newsletter and that is something you know you should do, begin the most straightforward way you can, but start! Get some help if you need it. A free service that I feel is pretty intuitive is MailChimp. It is free up to 1000 subscribers.

Go for it!!

I challenge you to track your sales between today and once you have started with your first calls and strategies. I bet you will see at least a 10% increase in your sales.

Build Your Business towards Semi-Retirement

October 10, 2018 By Marylee Leave a Comment

Working women with 30+ years under your belt, are you thinking about your ‘what’s next?’

We need to be talking about our options and what we want to do after we have put 25, 35 or even 45 years into our ‘work.’

>>Warning!<< This is a long post with a well-deserved reward at the end. Well-practiced tips to grow your business now.

Especially if you are struggling to make ends meet in your business, even after years of being this close to success.

Or, a woman on a career track for 20-30 years and want to leave but still want to have an income.

Or, a woman with a successful business and you know it’s time to scale back to a more narrow niche. And maybe have a life?

What About Retirement?

Even if we swear we are never going to retire and maybe deny our true age, things are going to change in our lives. In the US, we will become eligible for AARP at 50 and Medicare at 65. Social security can kick in between 62 and 66+.

My story is not your story. You may say you will never retire. I used to say that. Honestly, I still think that way. However, when I was 30, I thought I would retire at 55. I wanted to be young enough to enjoy myself as my perception of anyone over 60 was they were OLD as in elderly, crippled, unable to function. That was my view of people over 50.

Visions of Early Retirement in the 70’s

1970’s that is.

My first thoughts about planning for retirement were prompted by my early job in a YWCA in Westchester County, New York.

I recall a conversation with the Executive Director. She had been with the YW for years and was planning to retire at 55. She purchased a house on Cape Cod and looked forward to a relaxed pace of life dabbling in her other passions.

I took that conversation to heart and embraced early retirement as a primary goal.

Shifting to a Semi-Retirement Mindset

Fast forward 25 years and the launch of my first business. My position on retiring changed after I fell in love – with my first business that is.

This IS my passion. Starting and growing a business. Growing and empowering a staff. Adding to people’s lives with my products and services.

Early retirement was still on my mind but on the back burner. Why would I stop doing what I loved? My love for business was instilled by my father. My brother often told the story that I wanted to start a hardware/lumber business at five years old!

In 2015, I slammed the brakes on my coaching practice when we suddenly were given an opportunity to move to our new forever home on Kauai. And consider a semi-retired lifestyle. All in four months’ time.

I was scared s🤬’less about an income. Was I ready to make it in a new locale?

I had just published my book, Getting Potted in the Desert from my previous desert container gardening business and was on the local book tour route. I was also building my business coaching practice while consulting with the company that bought my container gardening business.

With this quick decision, we escalated our plans to downsize our home, planned for all insurances, medical, sell cars, close the law practice… the list went on and on.

With six duffle bags and 15 shipped boxes, we winged off on a one-way flight to Hawaii. We cut the tether line to our home of 20 years. Whoa!

Semi-retirement 4 years ahead of schedule

What does this mean? Finding part-time jobs or running a part-time business? I felt pressured to start earning an income in some form immediately.

Why semi-retirement?

I am lucky to have a partner of 25 years who has instilled in me a love for life, friends, and travel. For years when we traveled, I still had to run my business from the road.

We have worked hard to position ourselves, so we don’t have to work full time. Claiming semi-retirement, I get to have my cake and eat it too. We enjoy life, and I work on my business, coach clients from anywhere in the world (both me and them!) On a part-time basis.

Working Toward a Semi-Retired Lifestyle

Women, 50+ in the US are hanging onto jobs, careers, and businesses into their 70’s and 80’s with great success. They choose to continue working for the paycheck, satisfaction and/or social engagement they have while remaining highly productive.

An increasing number of Baby Boomers are starting new businesses or continuing to stay in business much longer. Those of us over the age of 50 are not choosing full retirement the way our parents did.

Why?

Some like myself, cannot imagine retiring. What would I do all day long? Sure, we have plenty of hobbies and travel often and long. But if I don’t have a project along with me, I get bored!

Many professionals not only enjoy what they do but know the service they provide is vital to their clients and community’s wellbeing. That is a key value in their life.

So What?

My concern is that too many are stuck in a rut feeling that they must work forever and can never cut back. We are on a treadmill of chasing business and running the operations. How can you even think of leaving?

You know how they say that you should make sure you spend time working on your business and not just in your business? I.E., Not working solely on product or service delivery. Working predominately in your business is being on that treadmill.

What’s “Next”?

We don’t always have a quick answer to this question. We have been working on that one thing for so long, chasing dreams, money or happiness.

One of my dearest friends often said, “Marylee, no one gets out of this life alive.” Somewhat morbid, I agree. But we only have one chance. As we reach those so-called ‘golden’ years, this is OUR time!

I do not have the magic answer. But on the advice of a colleague, I started journaling once I knew we were moving, and I was going to use this opportunity to plan for semi-retirement. Not retirement mind you. But business on my terms.

If you would like to learn about my approach to journaling, read this blog-post.

How to Retire Your Work into an UNretiring Business

You have built something solid, a business or a career. But you’ve started questioning how much longer you want to continue at the pace you’ve set for yourself.

You don’t want to stop working. And you love the work you do.

Focus on Your One Thing

You’ve heard about this before. Narrow your niche, do just one thing or maintain your focus. This becomes more critical as you think about adopting a semi-retired lifestyle.

As a relocated business coach, my goal is to grow the awareness of my services. I do not want to resort to a JOB after 20 years of running my own business.

Here’s the thing. I wasn’t ready.

I was not prepared with a robust mobile business plan nor client base to pick up my business in another, very different business culture. Had I worked harder on raising my global authority back then, I would have had an easier time.

Thrust into this rapid decision of semiretirement, I was lost. Happy with our move but lost nevertheless. I spent the first year trying to figure out my niche, my client base (local or global) and even who am I?

I started talking to people, both locally and globally working my friends, colleagues, contacts and network. Interest in my services began to increase. I saw the light at the end of the long, dark tunnel.

A local business owner said he needed some help in his long-range plan. A plan that would move him towards retirement.
Another needed help in setting up business systems and processes so that the business could become more efficient and potentially sellable as the owner knew she was not going to keep it forever.
A former client who was building an online program wanted a business coach to coach the participants so that she did not have to do all the one to one work, because? At this point in her life she wants to work smarter, not harder.

These three new coaching contracts made me see the light. To my one thing that is. Helping business owners strategize to realize a semi-retired lifestyle.

Yes, it took almost two years to get to this point where I could define my niche. However, along the way my earnings increased, and I was meeting my goals. And not to forget, my clients were achieving their dreams too!

I soon passed my Tipping Point.

A Tipping Point?

Your Tipping Point is when you hit the level of income in your business that exceeds your expenses and your personal income needs. Whereas a breakeven point is your income equal to expenses and over that is your profit, the tipping point is where you start to breathe a sigh of relief. You feel you might make it after all.

And when we hit this point, we Baby Boomer business owners can finally start thinking about transforming our business into a semi-retired lifestyle.

I know. I’ve just taken you from toppling your tipping point to a planning for part time business.

***

Let’s back up.

You must work it. The one thing that you do well and brings in the dollars. Don’t be tempted to search for the gold ring. Too many of us switch gears immediately when we are not experiencing an overnight success.

Set One Goal

Set just one goal that will make the difference to your bottom line. Enough so you can plan for the future.

Your Tipping Point in this discussion IS about the bottom line. Forget for the moment about retirement. No wonder it’s scary when after we pay the bills, there’s little left over.

What’s your goal? What will make your life more complete? How much will it take?

How does this translate into sales? How many widgets do you have to make? How many columns need do you need to write, books sold, clients seen?

Set those figures into your goal.

This year I want to build my email list. That’s it. Oh – while I’m maintaining my income goal that is. Since I didn’t have a program to sell yet, my income was dependent on the right mix of clients. And mind you – remember I said before that I had claimed a semiretired lifestyle? Therefore, I need to balance my client time with my building the list time.

Same for you – Right?

You need to find a way to sell your services to pass your Tipping Point while you are delivering your product.

So – you think 🤔 “I’ll put ads on Facebook or Twitter or Google.”

A Better Idea to Overpass Your Tipping Point

Take Action, Step 1 >>

Contact People Who Know and Trust You

Ask them to help you build your list, your business, and your success.

Contact your most intimate friends and family and tell them what you are trying to do. For me – I told them about my goal of reaching women who are “coming of age” with my new direction, “Women Reinventing Retirement”

Ie. Women over 50 who cannot imagine working less than full time because they have not “made it” financially. They are at the tipping point, and if they could get the push they need, their world would open up to them.

Your Request to them – a sample script

“Please read and comment on this email draft about my [your program] that I will be emailing to my close friends and colleagues who I already know. Please give me your suggestions on:

Edits to the email

Other groups I can contact about my work”

>>Of course, you will add all the pleasantries that belong in your personal email.

That’s it! 5-10 emails that say the same thing, to people who know, like and trust you.

Take Action, Step 2 >>

Develop a Habit

Based on their feedback, finalize the email and send out five emails a day to your medium hot list, Your Circle of Valuable Connections.

These include people you have done business with either as customers or vendors. I only want you to set a goal of five each day because you will customize each email based on what you know about the person. And of course, you can include an invitation to receive your current lead magnet and join your list.

This method is scalable because you can utilize it for any market or product and any group of people. As you exhaust your intimate circle, expand it to others in your contacts who you know well. From your hair stylist to networking organizations, your list of connections continues to grow. Contacting the circles can be accomplished by email, phone, private messages on social media or any other way you typically communicate with them.

Take Action, Step 3 >>

The Magic Touch

The next step to add to your systematized outreach program is what I call, Unfaltering Follow Through. This method will continually build your sales and your reputation. I have personally experienced its success even to the point that it will help you achieve the Magic 10.

10% more sales, that is.

…In 10 days

…spending only 10 minutes a day!

What do you have to lose? Download my Free guide now!

10 Lessons From an 18 Week Business Nomad

September 7, 2018 By Marylee 2 Comments

A Shift in Business from Home to Life as a Nomad

Sneakers Flying in Air by Pablo Hermoso
On Unsplash

It’s been a long road back to normalcy. A self-evacuation from Kauai gave us some degree of control over our lives after devastating floods and 15 horrific landslides closed our only road.

Continued road closures and travel in or out, dictated by a convoy schedule, seems to be the new normal which could last well into next year.

It was hard though. Certainly living through a flood disaster which hit our community but fortunately not our home and locked us in where we no longer controlled our movements, created an anxiety level we never experienced before.

Big Island Lava Fires Hawaii News Now 2018

However, not as bad as the Big Island’s volcano with a huge river of molten lava, 25 earthquakes an hour and just when things were settling down, Hurricane Lane.

The need for safety and our desire for control over our lives extended into 18 weeks (16 different beds!) as Hurricane Lane threatened our island and again the only road leading home.

Each section of our self-evacuation journey had us searching for a normal.

So what is normal?

A routine to living. One that we hope is safe and comfortable.

I’ve spent the last 2+ years shifting to semi-retirement; both in my business and in my lifestyle. A new home on an island paradise with a very different business culture.

Fortunately I had already moved my coaching business online. Even local clients meet with me online 90% of the time.

Therefore, when we evacuated to the mainland, my business went with me. I’d even say that was the one thing I could count on as my “normal.”

Each week was dictated by my schedule. In looking back, that was a good thing.

Shift to a Business Nomad Mindset

Running my business in 16 locations over 18 weeks offered a new and valuable experience as a nomadic business owner. With this, I learned ways to run my business simpler, consistently and such that my clients never felt my stress or distance. I did share with them however, my fear and distaste for handling multiple time zones.

I almost always look for the silver lining and here is one example of my typical outlook.

However, on this long, unplanned journey, I rarely saw the positives except for the concentrated, quality time we spent with good friends.

What I learned though are techniques I can use to run a business on a part time, semiretired basis that involves traveling.

10 Nomad Business Recommendations:

Set up all tools so they can be accessed remotely. (calendar, cloud storage of ALL working docs, contacts, email, online management for all marketing and accounting, updated apps and software and an client scheduling app )
Eliminate the need for paper! This is always true living in a very moist climate. But while traveling, the last thing I wanted was more items weighing down our luggage.
And speaking of tools, be sure whatever device you choose to do your work is not only functional for all your needs but lightweight when you have to lug it from location to location.
Watch out for time zones!! This was my largest pain points!! Yes I used World Buddy Clock but when you’re trying to set availability in your scheduling app for time in the future that is in a different zone, you have to be careful! I asked my clients’ help with this and they were very accommodating.
In addition, their expectations of your response time needs to adjust to your time zone. Where I was available during east coast business hours changed drastically as we moved west.
If you sell physical products, outsource this to a reliable person or company. Have a tested system in place to fulfill orders.
Practice working as if you were traveling while you are living in your normal. Each time you are tempted to use something else, ask yourself, how will I accomplish this when I am not home? Make adjustments and keep it simple.
Keep it simple. This is the biggest one!! Use one app instead of 2. Limit steps it takes to accomplish routine tasks.
Have a reliable backup system for all files and be sure to back up your home computer before traveling.
And finally, since we are living a semi-retired lifestyle, try to schedule your work and appointments every other week rather than weekly. We want time to enjoy our life with those important to us. — Or, don’t work every day.

Beginning in January, I’m going to schedule clients every other week and during my “off” weeks continue my writing. This hopefully will give me more quality time to spend producing and marketing and not be bound to my calendar. I prefer that freedom.

A new Normal perhaps?

What’s your Normal to running an efficient, go with you business?

Semiretired Lifestyle – A Choice

August 7, 2018 By Marylee Leave a Comment

Anticipation. Will the day let me down?
Is that part of my semiretired lifestyle story?

There wasn’t a predawn. Maybe sunrise will be better as there is a nice layer of clouds.

Anticipation. Will sunrise let me down today? There have been so many great ones… Wait! As I write this, the northern sky is pinking up.

My anticipation grows. Like a child waiting for Santa Claus, I often feel this way in life. Will the sunrise be spectacular? Will the waves crash near me causing me to scramble back from their onslaught?

North is still winning over east.

Anticipation & A Semiretired Lifestyle

I’m still waiting for the sun to clear the thickening clouds. There is potential as I write this.

It’s difficult to divide my attention between the surf, the clouds, and my writing. I hate to think of leaving, but I have a client project that needs my undivided attention which means I should start soon after the sun greets the day.

I long for carefree days where I can stay at the beach until I am done.

That’s part of the semiretirement quandary. If the work you do is autonomous within your deadlines, you can fully choose your working hours.

However, if your work is 1:1 customer or client based, there will be times when you must work by their clock.

I would like to transition my semiretirement work to a more autonomous style with few very select, client projects. The rest of my time can be devoted to my writing and publishing blogs, future books and online self-learning programs. If that is, I still choose to do each of these!

That’s the clincher in a semiretired lifestyle. You get to choose. It may take a while to get there but I believe the anticipation is worth it.

How to Fuel Your Fire 🔥

July 1, 2018 By Marylee Leave a Comment

Morning routines including coffee, exercise, writing, reading… we’ve experimented and learned about the importance of a morning routine.

Have you committed to one?

My morning routine has evolved over the past few years. It has needed to be flexible as I travel, living a semi-retired nomad style in different time zones with various schedules of necessity.
I do my best to keep it as regular as possible.

Here’s my desired routine:

Rise
Stretch
Drink water
Make coffee
Go outside for sunrise
Journal
Write my ”Future as Reality Statement”
Draft a blog
Make breakfast

Today, no one is going to be home for a few hours. I brought out my new lapel mic to try out. I wanted to send a Voxer message to my coaching group and try the mic on my iPhone. When I am home, my morning routine takes place on the beach, and I need the mic to overcome the sounds of the waves.

I experimented with it before I started my journal. After recording my message on Voxer, I shared it with the group on Facebook, and one of my clients replied. I engaged a little with her.

I admit this could be dangerous as the tendency is to get pulled into Facebook and lose track of time. I was mindful of this and quickly began my journaling process.

Adding the Fuel

However, when I started writing, I noticed how excited I was. I couldn’t wait to get started and move on. I even wrote,

Maybe it’s engagement, maybe sharing, succeeding in trying something new ( the mic,) I know it feels good. I wish I could have from 6-10am every day to write and move directly into productivity.

The take-away

I don’t have the exact answer now. Perhaps to explore different routines and see what is the most inspiring. Or, consider varying the exact routine depending on my needs of the day, my location and even welcoming influencers of the moment.

You have to get into my head to understand what I mean by that last statement. An influencer might be my partner’s agenda, an early morning engagement, something I recently read or heard or even the weather.

It’s important to be true to ourselves while maintaining a degree of flexibility.

The important thing is our morning routine, or any routine needs to play a role in our life that supports our goals. Health – both physical and mental, life, growth, business, and prosperity all come to mind.

My morning journal spurs me on towards the day and figure out questions I have about focus and direction. Today was unusual because the experience gave me both of these but also increased my motivation to accomplish something significant today.

Even on a Sunday.

How to Gather Followers for your Business

May 29, 2018 By Marylee Leave a Comment

Wouldn’t it be cool to be able to gather followers as quickly as we can gather wildlife?

Recently I had a fantastic day starting with an energetic group coaching session followed by snorkeling around the reefs at Tunnels beach on our north shore. Later we watched a movie and finished the day with PuPu’s (appetizers) with friends.

These experiences, all in one day gave me a glimpse into what semiretirement can look and feel like.

Adversely, as a massive planner and chief spreadsheet creator, I am often drowning in ideas to build my coaching practice which then claims my dreams. Not so good.

That night, the avalanche of ideas was insisting I stay awake in spite of some ineffective help from a sleeping pill.

I had a couple of revelations illustrated by the analogy of too many plates in the air.

The plates turned into balloons and one by one I popped each of them while doing a happy dance.

I suggest, if we get lost in the myriad of tasks, goals and new ideas (aka shiny objects), that we return to our core work.

Revisit and revise if necessary, our vision and why.
Be clear on who we serve and their needs.
Know how we can specifically help the client solve their problems.

Then we will successfully gather the gaggle, flock or tribe we are seeking.

The Most Effective Tool I Use Today That Leads Me to My Goal

I don’t mean an app or a device. The best tool is my journal. Every morning at sunrise.

I always thought it would be smart to write a journal. Can you imagine how it would feel now to have maintained a journal all these years?

I started many times. Key word – Started. Through the years, I’ve written only in short bursts.

That story changed as we began planning to make the move to Kauai two and a half years ago. One of my colleagues suggested I start journaling about my relocation. I took her up on that idea and now months later I have at least 700 journal entries. Many lead me towards a blog post while some have already been published. But more importantly, my journal is the place I center myself each day.

My journal has become

A diary
A place to vent
A place to sort out my thoughts and problems
A place to plan

My daily routine of going to the beach 30 minutes before dawn to write has become invaluable to me. It fuels my quest to reinvent myself in a new location and new lifestyle, aka semiretirement.

Or as I like to say now – Unretirement.

Begin Your Journal Today

Therefore, my most reliable recommendation to you is to begin or if you have a journal, commit to writing every day.

Feel free to follow my quick start process:

The only rule is to write every day.
You choose the time, location and physical properties. I write at sunrise on the beach on my iPhone. Many say it’s best with paper and pen, but there is too much moisture here to retain these items over time – or even a day!
Start each writing session with free-writing. Write whatever comes to mind as long as you want. There are no time or word count guidelines. You want to find your rhythm.
Finish each day with a “Daily New Reality Check.” Write your goals as if they have already happened. For instance, if a goal is to sell 1,000 widgets a year, write that you’re consistently selling 100 widgets a month and each sale is easy. Your customers love your widgets and are eager for your next model. Hopefully, you get the idea.

I thought I would get bored writing the Daily Reality Check day after day. I quickly found my story changed each day. Not my goals but my outlook on them.

My #1 goal for this year is to build my email list to 1,000 followers. Some days I talk about list growth. Others are about finding the flow in my work. (Read my Medium Post on this) My Reality Check includes my goal of publishing ebooks, which in turn will build my list. What comes to mind each day is based on whatever is in the forefront of my mind at that moment. It is not a chore and it certainly doesn’t take very long.

What I believe is that this process will center my daily processes to succeed.

With this focus, we will have our followers.

Thanks for reading.

Aloha,

Marylee

Enjoy my blogposts? Please share them with your friends, leave a response or ask a question. If you’d like more tips on taking your work into Un-Retirement, sign up for my personalized emails by following this link.

Torn Between 2 Lovers — How to Operate a Business + a Side Hustle

May 29, 2018 By Marylee Leave a Comment

How can anyone have two lovers? I know I could never juggle two involved relationships.

So what makes us think we can run two businesses at the same time? A business and a side hustle.

Running two businesses can be trouble.

Neither gets your attention 💯 %
If they are different target markets, the chance of one failing is double the standard business failure rate.
How do we juggle all the balls in the air?

In spite of this we continue to do it, right? Count me in!!

How can we give up something we believe in so wholeheartedly?

Often we can’t.

I can’t.

No matter what the experts say.

And now I’m trying to run two businesses at the same time.

Again… On a part time basis in semiretirement.

And I should know better, as a business coach, but I’m doing it anyhow!!

I’ll let you know how it goes.

Why Entrepreneurs Run More Than One Business

More possible streams of revenue
Too many ideas than we know what to do with
More than one passion
See an opportunity

Become an Expert Manager When Running Two Businesses

1. Manage goals

2. Manage money

3. Manage resources

4. Manage schedule

5. Manage motivation

Can we do it?

I grew up in an era of having to work three jobs to make it. I’m probably not so different from young adults today. It was sometimes tiring but in hindsight, I wasn’t bored. And my jobs were related in what I was doing.

After graduating college, I was an unemployed physical education teacher. I cobbled together substitute teaching, coaching girls high school sports teams and refereeing various sports. It made for long days and a variety of paychecks but it allowed me to live independently which was my main goal.

My First Business with a Side Hustle

When I went into business for myself, I started two distinct businesses concurrently. Back then I don’t think the term ‘side hustle’ had become a ‘thing’ yet.

One was nonprofit consulting and the other a container gardening business in the Southwest US desert. A niche.

I felt I was balancing the two but neither got my attention 💯 % and it was telling. Especially in the gardening business where I was probably making 5¢ an hour.

One had to go and after a long deliberation, I stayed with my gardening business. I was motivated to build that hourly value!!

The decision paid off as I built the business over the next five years.

But then I got the expansion bug.

I had already branched out from residential to commercial clients and expanded my staff by 500%. My sales grew 300% in the first 18 months and I had won several awards for business development and customer service.

I tried a gift-pot line but lacked the marketing resources to kick it off.

I gave workshops throughout the Southwest and people wanted to know where to get more information about gardening in the desert, in pots. My experience and knowledge lived mostly in my head.

This inspired me to write a book on “Getting Potted in the Desert.”

That became my “Next.”

However, my business needed my undivided attention and my right hand staff member suggested I wait.

I resisted but agreed to let the book simmer on the back burner. I satisfied my desire to write the book by recording my workshops and had my assistant transcribe them.

It wasn’t until I sold the business that I was finally able to complete and publish my book.

Now claiming the Side Hustle position in my two businesses, I’ve sold 1800 copies of my book and my mailing list is 2400.

Why Add a Side Hustle?

I loved growing my gardening business. It was a brand new concept to desert communities.

In the terms of the sale, I reserved the rights to educate, publish and consult. How could I stop sharing the knowledge I gained. in the 15 years of growing and caring for hundreds of gardens?

I was torn and I still am.

How can I let go of the people I have connected with personally? The growth of my gardening mailing list and book purchasers are proof of what can be done with an idea and persistence in spite of everything a business can sap from you.

However, I also want to attend to my other Love — building business.

When I first talked about selling The Contained Gardener, I was encouraged by my colleagues to take my volunteer work as a business mentor and don a coaching hat. 🧢

I built my practice in Tucson and it expanded to online clients dotted around the US.

With our move to Kauai and a semiretired lifestyle, I struggled to position myself in a different economic culture.

I shifted my business model to exclusively online, helping other Boomers and X’ers transition their business to one that allows more freedom to choose their lifestyle.

Still torn between the two

I divide my time. I continually look for ways to simplify, focus and automate my work.

As a business coach, do I recommend this?

Not really

But as the eternal optimist, I say there must be a way.

Richard Branson is rather positive about this subject.

He says that it’s important to ask yourself whether you’re passionate about both of your businesses.

“If you’re enjoying working on both of them, then carry on and keep your spirits up — what you’re attempting is possible.”

Tips for Running Two Businesses

Start Business #1 First

Build a good revenue stream to support yourself before starting the second
Put your processes in good order to streamline the business as much as possible

Start Business #2 – Add Your Side Hustle

Work on One Business at a Time

You can divide your days or your weeks but concentrate on one at a time or you will be spinning your wheels and not accomplishing anything of significance.

Keep Both Markets Happy

As in any relationship, you need to pay attention to the person. Or in this case, the people.

Clients
Potential clients and followers
Team

How do you do this? Communicating! Consistent, positive communication.

Watch Cash Flow and Resource Drain

Be sure you have good systems set up to track expenses vs income as well as time.

Ah — time! That’s often the greater challenge.

Time is money — either your own time or salaries. Or both.

Managing time is my biggest challenge. I want to keep both of my loves happy. I need to fuel them with communication and build them with processes that help me safeguard my time investment.

But sometimes, it’s overwhelming.

And that is when we need to take a break.

Breathe, recharge and refocus. Remember why we are doing this. Be sure this is what we want to do.

After all — we are grownups and we can change our minds.And at my age — I get to change my mind as often as I want.

Take Time to Celebrate Business Milestones

March 29, 2018 By Marylee 1 Comment

Rough surf, high winds and heavy showers. Even though the rain prediction is 10%, the rain is imminent. We’ve had monster surf earlier this week and it marks the milestones of ‘winter’ on the north shore of Kauai.

This past week has been one of great excitement. My website, where you are now finally reading this, is live!

It seemed to take quite a while to move from concept to completion. In looking back however, it only took a little more than a month. That’s really not so bad when you hear war stories about how long websites can take.

I could get into a whole discussion of what it takes to build a new website from a non-techie’s point of view but that’s not for today.

Today is about excitement, relief and satisfaction. Ultimately it’s about the ability to move forward. Forward in terms of posting my blogs about my journey and offering you, my readers, my thoughts and tips on retiring with business.

Which reminds me, we need to allow ourselves to take time to celebrate every step forward. No matter how small. Running a business can be a challenge with constant hurdles to vault over.

Let’s mark each milestone in some way. In our journal, with a reward, in a calendar. Whatever works for you.

I choose to bask in my joy. For a moment at least and then I am ready to write more entries into my journal and share the stories that might help you in your business and/or semiretired lifestyle.

Feel free to share your future dreams and plans in the comment section below – but only if you want to. 🙂

Where Did the Time Go?

March 24, 2018 By Marylee Leave a Comment

Time Wasters. Those things that break our train of thought.

Time Wasters take us away from what we are doing

or should be doing.

Inefficient work habits

Redundant tasks

What about distractions?

As entrepreneurs and business owners, we have more than one thing running through our minds at most points of the day. No wonder we can’t multitask!! We are overloaded to the max!

Where did the time go?

We all know that email can be a great distraction. A time waster? Absolutely.

Read this very fast — a virtual post

You are working on a project —creating your invoices for your clients. Certainly a priority activity. You see an email come through. Perhaps it is an important email from a customer who has a question. We have trained them that we are available 24/7 with all of our electronics that don’t seem to have an ‘off’ switch.

You open the email and think about their question. You decide you need a little more information, so you go out to your browser to get a little insight into how to form your answer. It will only take a minute. Then you will get right back to your invoicing. You have to bring in the money right?

While you are searching the web, you stumble upon a posting about how to streamline your invoicing process. You think that looks interesting. I hate invoicing so let me at it. You scan through the information and it asks a question about how you currently track your customers. You leave the window to return to your accounting program to find out and then when you go back to the article, which is actually an ad, you find the original search you were conducting to answer your client’s question.

You slap yourself in the head and say, that is the reason I was on the internet. So you say, let me finish that and get that email out and then I will come back and look at the new invoicing idea.

Then the phone rings. You answer it and take care of the caller and look at the clock. You say to yourself, “Where did the time go? I was supposed to have my invoicing done an hour ago.”

If you aren’t careful, you will blame the entire loss of time on the ‘interruptions’ caused by your customers. They are very needy.

What Can You Do?

What could you have done to safeguard the priority task of getting your invoicing out? Turn off the email for that hour? That is the logical answer. You need to be true to yourself and your priorities, to keep those time wasters at bay.

From time to time, I am going to talk about time wasters. I would love to include yours. What would you say is the most disruptive time-wasting activity in your business today?

Why Costly Online Programs Fail You

March 21, 2018 By Marylee Leave a Comment

Or what online program marketers might pay attention to…

We want to grow our business — Fast.

We look for the magic solution. As we do, what starts popping up in our Facebook feed? Ads that look like there are going to solve our #1 problem.

I clicked on an offer recently from an online marketer claiming to have found the perfect solution to building an email list. The claim was fast and Big! Since this is a goal of mine I clicked on the free pdf for a checklist to build your list.

The link took me to a page that flashed by in a microsecond and brought up the second page to a webinar sign-in. I could not get to the checklist.

After fiddling around some, I was finally able to find the checklist. Just to be clear, the definition of “checklist” is

“a list of items required, things to be done, or points to be considered”

What I received was a one-page workbook that probably is the page that you would have open for the webinar.

Very disappointing.

Severly Frustrated Woman Holding Face — Photo by Kat Love on Unsplash

How many times have you received something free or spent money on a program to only find that it does not live up to its promises?

A couple of years back, I was afraid I was going to get blacklisted from ordering anything more because of all the refunds I requested.

I could get into a rant about the shortcomings of online programs. Attempting to be more positive, here are my key criticisms and suggestions of what could be better.

How Online Programs Could Improve

1. There is no clear-cut path to follow.

When you first begin, you have no idea where to start. Or, where to go next.

Recommendation: Use a module system that is easy to follow. Having forums, videos, pick and choose courses confuse the learner and waste time in ‘figuring it out.’

2. The program started from a beginner’s point of view when you were looking to go beyond an intermediate level on that topic.

Recommendation: Be clear who the program is for — what level training it is.

Share specific knowledge or business practices a person will already have before entering the program.

Be absolutely clear on measurable results a person will attain when they complete the program.

3. We all get busy. It would be great if someone were watching to see if you are following the modules or active in the private group

Recommendation: Maintain a private group on Facebook or in Slack and have a system to check in on people’s activity level.

Additionally, set up the modules in a program where you can follow people’s accomplishments or completion.

Responsibilities of the Learner

Online learners do have their responsibilities before signing up for an(other) online program. We have to own this and not just criticize the person who has put their heart and soul into their program.

Hey — don’t many of us have programs out there or are planning to launch one soon? Listen up.

Participant’s Responsibility in Taking on an Online Program

Enroll in only one program at a time.
Before enrolling in the next best thing, be sure you haven’t already purchased a program that has the same goals. There are hundreds of programs to choose from and I bet that you already have something in your inbox.
Consider if it is the next shiny object or something you will institute in the next three months.
Check for external reviews. Type in the person’s name and program and the word ‘reviews.’ See what comes up as well as where it is coming from.
Read the program details carefully. I admit that I have quickly skimmed the sales page because the lead in was so perfect. Just what I needed. But when I looked carefully at what was being delivered, I could see the holes in it and knew it would not give me what I was looking for.
Wait a day before deciding to hit Purchase.
Be honest with yourself that you

Like the person, the content and the delivery. Try the content creator’s free stuff first.
Have the time needed to insure you get the best ROI (return on investment) for the program. Will it give you what you are looking for?
Have the money to enroll in the program as well as other funds you might need to complete the action steps the program is teaching. For example, if you are looking to build an email list, there are programs and subscriptions you will need. You will need to build the website, gifts, opt-in pages. Can you do this all yourself or will you need to outsource it? Do you have storage space for these items?
Consider what will potentially suffer if you enroll in the program. If you are already short on time, what will have to be put aside for you to commit to the program?

BEFORE you press a Sign Up Now button, consider your investment and your true Need.

And if you are designing or have launched a program, please check that you are truly delivering what you promise.

#1 to do for your business in Jan

January 11, 2018 By Marylee Leave a Comment

There are 21 days left in January. That’s 504 hours and 30,240 minutes. More than enough time to create your 2018 Goals, plan and this month’s to do list.

Now don’t be rolling your eyes at me. I’m not going to ask you to go on a 3-day strategic planning retreat. Can you give yourself an hour? Take .2% of the time remaining in January and plan your year?

I’m not going to bore you with 1,000 words convincing you that planning your year is a good idea. You’ve probably been seeing every hotshot out there providing you with the why’s and how of planning. I can tell you though, that my experience with business owners who don’t have a plan – well, they might as well head out in a boat with no map. You get the drift.

Let’s dive in.

Give yourself an hour with paper or your computer, laptop, tablet or cell phone.

If you created a plan last year, pull that out. (Hopefully, you can access that in a minute.)

Step 1 Write or review and edit your Vision

Your Vision is about you. We are not creating a business vision or mission statement that you hang in your business’s lobby or place on your website. This is about what you want for yourself, your lifestyle and for you in your business.

It shows the intersection of personal and work.

Think about where you see yourself in the next 5-10++ years. Think about your health, finances, lifestyle leisure time, passion and what you accomplish, do, be…

My Vision

Over the last two years, I have transitioned my business to part-time as I decided to be semiretired. My vision statement reflects that and projects out more than the 5-10 years I just recommended. It’s fine to determine the time frame you want to focus on now. It all depends on your reality at this moment.

Marylee’s Vision

Coach, write, blog and publish which keeps my mind active and engaged.
Help Baby Boomer Businesswomen create success and satisfaction in a part-time business and semiretired lifestyle well into their “golden years.”
Live a Long healthy, active life past 100 years with my life partner, socially engaged and playing badminton at a reasonable weight.
Protect my time so that I maintain a well-balanced calendar. Travel extensively and enjoy retirement 100%.
Always maintain my integrity.

Your Turn

Take some time to start drafting your vision. You don’t have to get it right the first time. Your vision will evolve. Try answering some of these questions:

- 1. If you could have anything you wanted, what would that be?
  2. What do you love doing more than anything else?
  3. What is most important to you in terms each of the following parts of your life: health, spiritual, business or career, family, social relationships, financial security, and fun.

Your vision statement does not need to look like mine. It shouldn’t. No one is watching so just write it.

Step 2 Your #1 Goal for 2018

Next, keeping your Vision front and center, write your one key business goal for 2018.

- - What is the most critical thing you want to accomplish in your business this year that will make a giant impact towards your vision?

Marylee’s First Try – 2018 Really Big Goal (RGB)

Here is my first stab at my 2018 RGB

Streamline my “work” so that I still have a way of sharing my passion for business but generate a method to add passive income. With our travel schedule starting Dec 2018, I won’t have time for much 1:1 coaching through 2020.

How will I know I have accomplished this? That’s the problem – it is not measurable. What I wrote is the essence of what I need to do in 2018 so that I can travel freely in the following years.

Let me try again:

In 2018, create, sell and run a yearlong group program of at least five members which includes a live monthly group session, workbook, self-study activities and 1:1 coaching. Record the components of the program and produce a self-study program which I will begin promoting in September 2018 to launch early January 2019.

Better?

Your turn.

What is the most critical thing you want to accomplish in your business this year that will make a giant impact towards your vision?

You’ve heard of SMART goals, right?

Once you have your goal written, compare it to each of these points to make sure you have it all covered.

I prefer looking at Relevancy first. Because if it is not relevant, then what’s the point?

In my example,

The program I run this year will become an online self-driven program next year targeting Baby Boomer Businesswomen moving into semi-retirement. Relevancy – Check!

Specific – Run one program. Create an online application from it. Promote and Launch. Check!

Measurable – Numbers and dates – Check!

Achievable – This is a hard one. Can I do this with limited hours this year? I would like to think so. Since I am using a living, breathing case study to create the new program, I think it is doable as long as I maintain consistent work each month. Check!

Time Bound – I have each type of activity that I need to complete for this project in my calendar. Check!

How does your goal measure up? Check it against each of the standards of writing SMART goals.

Step 3: Your WHY

I bet you’ve heard others talk about your Why. Your Why will evolve from your vision statement. Think of it as your Guiding Light. It is the heart and soul of why you do what you do. Your Why is the reason you get up in the morning and get to work. even when it’s hard.

Many of you will have a financial commitment as part of your goal. If that is the case, to get to the heart of your Why, you must keep digging deeper. You might say, “I need more money.” Or, “I need more money to pay my bills.”

This answer is one that suggests going out and getting a job. Really.

Dig in. Why do you want more money? I would venture to say that most of us want more money. But why? For what? What will an increase in our bottom line do for our life? What do you want?

Entrepreneurs have a calling for more. It can be because you want to help others, your family and yes, yourself. But Why? Each time you write the answer, ask yourself “Why?” again.

Step 4: Plan Your First Quarter

To reach your 2018 Goal, what do you need to complete this first quarter? Again, write SMART goals for this quarter. Here there probably will be more than one.

Next, break your 1st Quarter Goals into monthly steps and tasks. Again, this is an evolving document as you will need to add to it as you discover steps you need to take that you had not thought of before.

I use a spreadsheet to chart all of this out. Some people use a task app, some a calendar and some of my clients use Kanban. Whatever works for you. If you want a simple spreadsheet, contact me and I will share a Google doc with you.

That’s it!

What? We aren’t going to plan the rest of our year?

Nope! I guarantee you if you plan the entire year, it will change. You have your vision. More importantly you have your Why. Your Guiding Light. I rather you get to the meat of this quarter and do the work.

Next Steps To Do:

- - Start
  - Do something every day towards your RBG
  - Ask someone to hold you accountable
  - Keep an idea file for things you know you will need to do next quarter
  - Put a reminder on your calendar March 15 to plan Quarter 2. Before you celebrate St Patrick’s Day.

Want a little help in figuring any of this out? I offer a free, no sales, Give Me a Break session where we can sort some of this out.

Schedule one today and I promise you will leave with a clear head and a firm grip on your next step.

Your #1 Task in a Blink

January 4, 2018 By Marylee Leave a Comment

What’s the #1 challenge for small business owners? Time? Not getting enough done? Too many balls in the air? How do you focus on one thing?

I agree these have been the top of the problems that have kept me up at night in my decades of entrepreneurship. Oh – and not enough money – right?

When we search for anything related to time management, you can find all sorts of tips and tricks to organize and manage your time. Much of it comes down to focus. The anti-shiny object method.

My Daily Focus

I start each day on the beach 150 steps from our home on the north shore of Kauai. After being mindful of my arrival, I write my journal. Meaning I look around for conditions, people and most importantly, where I want to sit.

Today it is Windy! On days like this, I describe the ocean as messy. But one of the surf apps wrote, “Surf is expected to be rather jumbled/sloppy for most spots with the swell mixed and onshore NE Trades.”

Messy or jumbled/sloppy. Hmm, much like my brain most mornings!

It’s not cold, but I am bundled up against the wind. Reports say the surf is 7-9′ and tomorrow will be up to 15′-20′. That’s not high for our north shore winter surf but with the ocean so “‘messy” and noisy, it demands my attention as the sunrise approaches the horizon.

There is a moment between wave sets when a quiet pool of water rests before the last crashing wave withdraws back into the sea. It’s a moment when the ocean catches its breath. If you watch patiently, you will see a turtle pop its head up for a breath of air. It’s nearly impossible to take a picture as that breath is so quick, it’s like trying to catch a photo of lightning. The turtle’s location is random and it takes tremendous luck or incredibly fast reaction time to locate him and snap the picture.

The submerged turtle is only 30 feet from me and I often miss him. (If I miss him, how do I know he was there? I will see him a bit later and if he comes up once, he will come up often.)

So how come when I am writing my journal, something can catch my eye miles out on the horizon without me looking?

I have seen the spout and tail of a whale, a stand-up paddler, the mast of a small fishing boat or cabin of the coast guard ship that is so far out that my camera can barely pick them up. But there is enough break in the horizon that they catch my eye, even when I am not looking for something.

I am sure there is some logical scientific reason for this. The more you learn about me, you will quickly discover that I am not going out to do a great deal of scientific research. And this question is such that I don’t even know how to ask Alexa, Cortana or Google! Maybe we can agree that there is such a phenomenon.

Does this say something about our ability to focus far exceeds that of a camera or telescope?

When I look out on the water’s horizon, it is a long uninterrupted line. Anything, no matter how distant breaks that line.

Coming Into Focus

The view of the distant horizon reminds me of the saying, “Can’t see the forest for the trees” as used concerning business. We get so immersed in all the balls we are juggling every day in our business, we cannot begin to look at the big picture. We tend to be reactive in solving day to day crises and completing daily checklists. To turn this switch to becoming proactive and strengthen our planning and decision making, you need to go out to the broader view of the whole forest, i.e., your business and it’s health and plan for growth.

I’d like to think that my view of the ocean horizon is just the opposite. As a planner, I tend to continually take in the whole picture, see all of its components at once. In my daily morning view of the ocean, I see the cloud formation (is it going to rain?), the size of the waves (will surfers go out today?), the surf break (is my sitting space in danger of being submerged?) and is the tide coming in or going out (are there going to be many shells?)

All of this happens in a blink of an eye.
When I notice a line break on the horizon, my focus zooms into that singular item like a high-speed distance camera lens. It captures all of my attention while I still have the morning’s big picture in my memory bank.

Try applying this experience to your business.

Start the day by taking in the big picture of your business, your overriding goal or vision. When you have a clear goal, this will become comfortable as you practice it each day.
Narrow your focus to the one single task that will move your business forward.
Do this task today as in NOW with all of your drive and focus.